Technical Design

Department of Technical Design (WI-ATD)

Technical Design department (WI-ATD)

The Technical Design department is responsible for the needs of all departments at HZB with regard to construction design, development, calculation, procurement and technical advice on parts and assemblies, mainly of mechanical nature.

Components and assemblies are designed for experimental requirements, primarily vacuum components, sample transfer and positioning systems, as well as chamber racks that are used on the various BESSY beamlines. The entire range of modern materials is used, such as aluminium alloys, various stainless steels, titanium, molybdenum and tantalum.

Various 3D CAD programmes such as SolidWorks and CREO are used for design. Static and dynamic load analyses can be carried out using the finite element software package ‘ANSYS’.

Another pillar in the range of services is  3D printing (plastic & metal) of components, whereby various printers with FDM and MJP technology are used.

The WI-ATD department is also heavily involved in the BER II reactor dismantling project (CAD processing of the reactor, development of components for separation technology, recording of the activated reactor inventory to determine the costs of disposal) and has a permanent member of staff at the LMC for this purpose.

For many years, mechanical engineers have been trained on the Bachelor's degree programme in cooperation with the HWR (Berlin School of Economics and Law), with the HZB (WI-AMAN & WI-ATD) taking over the practical part of the course at the HWR. 

Employees of the Technical Design department can be found here.

3D-Printer service (plastic)

The department WI-ATD offers two 3D printing processes (FDM, MJM). Three different printers are available for this purpose:

• Stratasys F370
• ProJet@MJP 2500
• 3DGence F-350)

Information on printable materials, component dimensions, layer thicknesses, potential applications, etc. can be found on the HZB intranet under the WI-ATD department. 

Placing an order  for 3D-printing is available via the HZB-intranet of WI-ATD. 

3D-printer service (metal)

The WI-ATD department recently started operating metal 3D printing. The printer (TruPrint-2000, Trumpf) is located at the LMC (Wannsee) and is currently being prepared for commissioning [electricity, cooling water, process gases . . . ]. The 3D printer works according to the SLM principle* and has a load space of 200x200x200 mm. Stainless steel, aluminium and titanium are available as material options. It is planned to carry out commissioning with stainless steel first.

For external 3D metal printing, we offer support in developing the printed parts and selecting an external service provider.

Metal pieces are 3D-printed for thicknesses > 0,5 mm only!

Further information on printable materials, component dimensions, layer thicknesses, potential applications, etc. can be found on the HZB-intranet under the WI-ATD department. 

Placing an order  for 3D-printing will be possible in the near future  via the HZB-intranet of WI-ATD. 

*SLM = Selective Laser Melting (powder bed process)
*LDW = Laser Deposition Welding (powder nozzle)